Most long-running series eventually have to come to grips with the departure of major cast members, and-barring complete recasting-it's at that time that producers have to find replacements to keep the premise intact (at least long enough to carry the show into syndication).

Sometimes, they get lucky and hit upon characters that actually eclipse the popularity of their predecessors (M*A*S*H's B.J. or Cheers' Woody, for example) sometimes they fail gruesomely (When the producers of This Week hired George Stephanopoulos to fill the seat of the retiring David Brinkley, they were clearly asking for trouble), and sometimes they give battlefield promotions to existing characters (arguably, Carter for Greene on ER).

Which ones worked, which didn't, and why?

Right off the bat, I'd have to mention The X-Files bringing in Robert Patrick to "replace" David Duchovny. (And, to so some extent, Annabeth Gish.). I wasn't sure Robert could fill shoes so big, but I think he did an excellent job. He and AG were fun to watch together, and succeeded in carrying some episodes (i.e. "4-D"). I think they were great 'replacements'. YMMV.

OK, you can't talk about replacing characters/actors without mentioning the Great Due South Ray Switch, so I'll go ahead and toss it out.
They switched from a balding, dark-haired Italian Ray Vecchio to a shorter, blond, spiky-haired non-Italian Ray Koawalski, who was pretending to be Vecchio while the real Vecchio was deep undercover with the mob. How anyone who had met the real Vecchio was supposed to be fooled by this is beyond me, but whatever. Anyway, debate rages to this day as to which Ray was better, and why. Me personally, I feel that both Rays have their pros and cons, but overall, I prefer Original Ray (RayV) episodes to RayK ones. YMMV.

Natalie Teeger met with a lot of heat from Monk fans, but I think the writers have made her into a great character in her own right that even eclipses Sharona in some ways. The fact that she has lost her own spouse allows her a deeper connection with Monk than Sharona could have, for instance.

I totally agree. She still doesn't take any shit, but she's not a Sharona clone either.

The Monk "replacement" that still bothers me is the theme. GO AWAY, RANDY.

Also, I preferred the first Marta on Arrested Development. I found the recast a bit dull.

Well, of course, Adam Schiff, as played by Steven Hill, was the only D.A. worth having on Law & Order. Dianne Wiest as whatever the hell her name was, (Nora Something?) stunk on dry ice. She was so boooring, you could cry. Fred Dalton Thompson as Arthur Branch is very different, but not much less boring. Neither of those two have an ounce of Hill's dry wit, calm disdain, reserved dignity, or restrained dramatic flair.

Jonas Quinn, your thread is calling!

The worst TV replacement was on Stargate SG-1 when the handsome, popular Daniel Jackson was killed off and replaced by the guy who used to play Cousin Nicky on Webster. Not only did they get rid of a beloved character, but they introduced his replacement in the same episode and had Jonas Quinn be partly responsible for Daniel's death - then TPTB wondered why so many fans hated the new guy.

To make matters worse, the S6 scripts had obviously been written before Michael Shanks (Daniel) left, so they got around the issue by having Corky Nemec (Quinn) say "According to Dr. Jackson's notes . . . " and then proceed to do and say exactly what Daniel would have done or said in the same situation.

As the cherry on the ice cream, Corky is as about as exotic as a cheeseburger, so naturally the writers made Jonas an exotic, mysterious alien. It didn't help that he apparently has been studying at the Joey Tribianni School of Acting, i.e. playing the role as if he were in a sitcom, pausing after each line for the laugh track.

He has his own entry on Wiki's TV Tropes: Jonas Quinn

How about when the cute kids grows up so they bring in a new one? A perfect example was in The Cosby Show when Rudy got older so they brought in Olivia. Rudy was just naturally adorable -- it worked. Olivia tried too hard to be cute, every scene she was in was like "look at me and how cute I am". Thing is, it wasn't cute - it was obnoxious. So I would say that didn't work.

Woody on Cheers was already mentioned, but how about Rebecca. I liked Diane, but I also liked Rebecca. I think that replacement did work.

Wesley for Doyle on Angel. Maybe not an official replacement, but because of the timing it felt like one. Wesley irritated me at first, but by the end of the season he had really grown into his own and became a great character.

Two good replacements: in the sitcom Love & War (which maybe should go into the "Shows Nobody Remembers But Me" thread), Susan Dey didn't work out in the first season at all, devoid of the kind of comedy timing and attitude needed to play opposite Jay Thomas, Suzie Plakson, Joanna Gleason, et al. The following fall she was gone, replaced by Annie Potts in as a different character who interacted much better. (I know the show ran only 3 seasons total, but it was vastly better after Potts signed on.)

And Newhart: It just wasn't coming to life that first year. The replacement of one supporting character, the maid, by "her cousin" Julia Duffy made all the difference in the world and the show found its tone and style.

One replacement that, while good, still was a step down for me was the "veteran street cop" slot on original Law & Order. Yes, Jerry Orbach was wonderful, season after season. But seeing George Dzundza in those first-season episodes is something else; just incredibly special, moving, funny, and real.

Of the sucky-
Will Bailey for Sam Seaborn in Season 4 of West Wing:
Now, I love Josh Malina as much as anybody. And had I met Will Bailey as an independent character, it might have worked out between us.
But 3 things got in the way:
a) we knew Sam was leaving from September on,
b) Will was so incredibly similar to Sam, so Sam-esque, that he was clearly a replacement we were being poked with a stick in order to like
c) SORKIN SCREWED UP SAM'S EXIT ROYALLY.

After that, I tried, really I did, but I could never like Will, really. He was Sam-lite, New Sam, and could never measure up to the original.

And continuing with the sucky TWW replacements:

Mary McKormack for Anna Deveare Smith any time they needed someone from the NSA. They are pretending that Kate "works" for Nancy, but...ADS hasn't been on the show in god knows how long, and any time the show moves into the Sit Room, it's always Kate playing Nancy's part.

And Kate is just kind of boring.

Word to Will Bailey as a sucky replacement for Sam Seaborn on TWW.

And if I may be so bold (this isn't an actor replacement but rates as a "TV replacement") but I nominate the hack of all hacks who ever hacked, John Wells, as a replacement for Aaron Sorkin on the aforementioned TWW. IMO the show completely tanked after AS left. I don't even watch anymore.

BJ has already been mentioned on M*A*S*H* but while I loved the Frank Burns character, Charles Emerson Winchester was an outstanding foil for BJ and Hawkeye. He wasn't the one-note character that Frank was. And as I got older, I always preferred Colonel Potter to Henry Blake. While Potter was friendly with the troops, there was always the professional line there that didn't exist with Henry. Henry's too much like the bosses at my department, all of whom care about being a co-worker's buddy rather than a supervisor and it really unhinges things when they're forced to hand out discipline. Klinger always bugged me. I never liked him as a replacement for Radar.

Good references up-thread about L&O. No one can replace the beloved Steven Hill as Adam Schiff. JO was a good mention. I'm also a die-hard Mike Logan fan and never had the Rey Curtis and/or Det. Greene love that everyone else had. I loved the bad-boy Logan. Curtis was too goody-goody for me and Greene has too much of a flippin' chip on his shoulder.

Oh, and Abby sucks as a replacement for Carol on ER. I got so sick and tired of everying being all about Abby all the time that I had to stop watching.

Great thread!

How about shows that are on their last legs and have lost their core protagonists
but feel the need to drag it out anyway?

They lost Joel on Northern Exposure, they brought in that annoying married couple. They replaced a sister on Sisters. (Wha?) Then there was Charlie Sheen replacing Michael J. Fox on Spin City, which was terrible.

The whole "Carter replaces Greene" concept on ER was more invented by the people hyping ER than was actually present on the show. Despite what John Wells said, Mark was never a flawless, wise sage who the rest of the characters worshipped and relied on to tell them how to live their lives. He mopped up a lot of the bad stuff that wnet on there, but he also had plenty of problems himself and
spent a lot of time being blatantly passive-aggressive and talking out of both sides of his mouth. Doug, Kerry, Susan, Carol . . . I don't think any of them really believed that Mark was their personal savior or anything. So Carter really couldn't take on a role that didn't exist.

Dennis Farina must be insane to think he can fill Jerry Orbach's shoes. Nobody can ever be as good as Lennie. Ever.

I really didn't want to like Xiva David on the new season of NCIS, since she was replacing Kate. Really, I didn't. But she's so damn cool I can't help myself.

This one goes way, way back.

James Garner starred in a western called Nichols back in the early 70's. At the end of the first season, TPTB wanted to make the title character (Nichols) more "heroic". Their solution was to kill off James Garner's character (Nichols), and bring in his brother to avenge the death.

The replacement's name was also Nichols.


And he was played by James Garner........

Worst

Ezri Dax replacing Jadzia Dax on Star Trek DS9.

Ooh goodie goodie goodie! My favorite (not really) replacement!

Exit Bo and Luke Duke

Enter Coy and Vance Duke

None of the chemistry that made The Dukes of Hazzard fun to watch was there anymore. The actors who played them were even told to not get comfortable, since John Schnieder and Tom Wopat were negotiating to get their jobs back. And they did, about 1/4 of the way into the 16th episode of the season, I think. And Coy and Vance were never heard from or spoken to again!

Oh, and having Ezri Dax replace Jadzia Dax. What the fuck was up with that? I wish she'd just stayed dead, so Nicole DeBoring wouldn't have joined the cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, an otherwise absolutely stellar show. Then again, if she didn't, I wouldn't have had the joy of hearing Garak rip her a new asshole.

Ok, off to the DS9 thread before I'm bitchslapped!


Edited to add- damn you VersesBatman! Added as I was typing my own post!

Heh. DS9 was my family show growing up. My mother and I liked Jadzia, and were sad when she left, but my father despised her. ( Or more correctly, Terry Ferrell.) He did everything short of an Whedon-style Dance of Joy when they replaced her.

I was, frankly, indifferent towards Ezri for most of her season. I did like when she got together with Julian, but ( how sexist does this sound)(and I'm a feminist) only because it finally gave Julian a stable, loving relationship with someone besides Miles. And Julian could ride off into the sunset happy.

The Sarah Chaulke for Leci Goranson on Roseanne. That's the worst for me.

Also Dick Sargent for Dick York on Bewitched. York was so much funnier and Sargent was kind of mean spirited. It's hard to believe Samantha fell in love with him.

One of the all-time great replacements: Mr. Wick on The Drew Carrey Show. I haven't seen any first season episodes so I don't know how he compares to the original boss, but Craig Ferguson was so hysterical and fit in so well with the rest of the cast that it never crossed my mind until I looked it up that he wasn't part of the original recipe.

Speaking of Drew Carey: The worst replacement was the gal who took over when Kate left.

Word. I just do not like Abby. I tried, but I don't think I'm ever going to actually like her. She always looks so tired and depressed. This is pretty sad because I loved Maura Tierney on Newsradio. It's like ER just takes otherwise likeable good actors (MT, Linda Cardeilini, John Leguizamo) and makes their characters as assholey and hate-worthy as they can.

I know this has been mentioned already, but I so hated Spin City when Charlie Sheen and Heather Locklear took over that damn show. Another show that should've ended when the replacement was brought in was 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter. That show was a skeleton of it's former self no matter how good James Garner was.



They replaced Kate?! I used to watch that show with my parents every now and then back in the day, but there is no way they could replace Kate.

Yes, the actress who played Kate left Drew Carey for Scrubs.

That's where she went!

But we never saw the boss before Mr. Wick. We only heard him referred to, and ocassionally heard his voice on speakerphone.

Tom (?) Baker was the best Doctor Who, though Peter Davidson was a good follow-up. None of the Doctors before or since have quite measured up.

Good replacement: Jimmy Smits for David Caruso on NYPD Blue

Bad replacement: Warren for Barney on The Andy Griffith Show

Agreed. Such an annoying twit! No wonder Andy seemed so cranky during the color episodes.

On "Family Affair" (the original from the '60s), Mr. Giles French (Sebastian Cabot) went away for a season -- not sure why, did Cabot have a health issue? -- and his brother, Mr. Nigel French (John Williams) became the new "Mr. French." Never worked; Williams' character was just too uptight to convey that "hummanah, hummanah hummanah Ralph Kramden with a stiff upper lip" reaction to the kids that Cabot excelled at.

WORD to the poster upthread that said "Newhart" vastly improved when Leslie was replaced by Stephanie (and Kirk with Michael). Those two made the show for me!

Also thought BJ, Potter and Winchester held their own against Trapper, Henry and Burns, without being carbon copies of the characters they replaced. And Klinger was OK in Radar's job, but I still missed Radar.

Are you my dad? Because we seriously got into this discussion just a few days ago about the show. The only thing that I don't agree with is the Klinger thing. Before Radar left, Klinger was nothing but an occasional comic relief on the show. Hand-gliding in his fuzzy pink slippers and whatnot. But once he had a chance to become an actual character, to come into his own, I found him even better. Radar was just so innocent and wide-eyed about everything that it was refreshing to see someone who wasn't that way take the same job and position.

Enter Coy seemingly being mentally five years old, and Vance always grabbing Daisy's ass and leering. It was the most disturbing thing ever.

And Ben Jones, the guy playing Cooter, could barely keep his contempt off his face.

That was rather atrocious, but it did allow for the hilarious "return of Becky" episode.

I think Rose "Twitchy" McGowan replacing Shannen Doherty ranks pretty close to the bottom of the list.

Anyone remember Aaron Spelling's "Hotel"? Kind of like "Love Boat" and "Dynasty", sort of. Anyway, Bette Davis was in the pilot as the owner, replaced by Anne Baxter when the show started its run. It would have been interesting if Davis had stuck with the show.
But how about "Murder, She Wrote", where Tom Bosley was replaced as sheriff of Cabot Cove with Ron Masak? I kind of preferred Masak to Bosley as the local sheriff.
And let's not forget "Cheers", where Kirstie Alley replaced Shelley Long. At the time, there was concern about whether the show could continue, but, of course, it did.

Nope, not your dad, pcg. (grin)

I guess maybe I was too harsh on Klinger. You're correct that in early eps he was merely comic fodder and that he actually got to become an actual character once Radar left and he was allowed to come into his own. I just grew so tired of the yelling, if you will. I always felt like he would benefit immensely from a Ritalin smoothie ala Ty Pennington and using an inside voice--if that makes sense.

Actually, in Mr. Bell's final episode, you finally see him walk out of his office and confront Drew for something. The audience went nuts, because it was the first and last time we saw the guy. I fully agree, though, that Mr. Wick was an excellent replacement.

Personally I like Ezri Dax. Sure I loved Jadzia but Ezri was fine as a replacement. I probably wouldn't have liked her as much if they'd tried to make Ezri into a Jadzia clone but instead they made her into a different character all together and even dealt with the awkwardness of having to deal with someone who's back from the dead but not really.

On Designing Women...

Allison Sugarbaker (Julia Duffy) for Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke).

Carlene Dauber (Jan Hooks) for Charlene Frazier (Jean Smart)

Both replacements sucked. Julia Duffy was funny in the role, but she was no Delta Burke.

She wasn't that bad when the replacement took place four years ago. It's been more of the past year that Rose hasn't been as decent as she was when she started.

So. Much. Word.

My vote for worst replacement?

Law and Order: SVU- Five words: Casey Novak replacing Alex Cabot.

That is all.

Three pages and no one's mentioned:

Serena "Is this because I'm a lesbian" Southerlyn for Abby "Hang 'em All" Carmichael?

We get an ADA who isn't enamored with McCoy, can stand her ground and shows a spine. So we replace her with Law-Talkin' Barbie. Good one, NBC.

I liked Kirstie Alley in Cheers but I think the show seriously sucked after Shelley Long left. Not because of Kirstie Alley, but because the show lost focus. It had always been about These guys in a bar, and all the action took place in the bar. It was it's own little corner of the world. After Shelley left, the storys started moving around outside the bar (I remember one dreadful episode about skydiving). It lost a lot of its charm, I think, in the panic to replace Shelley Long. I do have some fond memories of later years (especially Woody's wedding) but I would have been just as happy to have left it at Sam watching Diane ascend the stairs as she left, saying "Have a nice life." What an awesome ending.

I think the most succesful replacement characters are the ones that are allowed to be their own characters and not have to be clones. M*A*S*H was good at replacing characters. The ones mentioned on Designing Women were not (though now I think about it I have always loved Jan Hooks).

I'm aboard the Ezri-hate train. She'd have been OK, I think, if they hadn't taken several episodes out of the final season (and awesome final arc) to devote to her family issues and her neuroses. However, having Garak tell her off was rather fantastic.

How about replacing Barbara Bel Geddes with Donna Reed on Dallas? I'm sorry, there's only one Miss Ellie. Terrible idea, quickly rectified.

To be fair, they had to do something, as Bel Geddes had be absent that year in order to have heart surgery. But it was initially agreed on as a permanent replacement, and they did change their minds about that.

Barney Miller did well with replacements over the years. Initially the regulars in the room were planned to be Gregory Sierra, Abe Vigoda, Jack Soo, and Max Gail, with others rotating in and out. But they wisely kept Ron Glass (an early "recurring" character who turned out to be permanent), and when Gregory Sierra left (along with Linda Lavin, who was on her way toward permanent when the Alice opportunity arose elsewhere), they had Steve Landesburg to add, and he worked out well too.

, that made for all kinds of weird in 'Roseanne'. It wasn't that one was better than the other, they really weren't any better than each other, its just that it was peculiar you know, Goranson left, Chalke came on-board, Chalke left, Goranson re-joined and then left and Chalke came back again, I think, by the end.

ER replacements tend to be terrible.

'The West Wing' is terrible at replacements as well. Will Bailley just was never different enough from Sam and now his worst qualities are emerging in the campaign for President (I'm watching the DVDs.) I don't like Kate enough but I respected Nancy McNally. CJ probably shouldn't have replaced Leo as Chief of Staff. And as much as I love Lily Tomilin, and I LOVE Lily Tomilin, she's hilarious in just about everything she's in. But she's just not nearly as great at being the President's secretary as Kathryn Joosten was as Mrs Landingham. I am still bitter about Delores' demise.

Kate Mulgrew coming in for Genevive Bujold as Captain Janeway on 'Voyager' was a strike of luck though, made that character bareable, for me at least.

Did anyone catch the season premiere of That 70's Show this week? There was a character (the same guy who played Brad on Grounded For Life) and every indication was that he would be the "new" Eric. Then he died.

Was this a blow to all those other replacement characters?

If so it was hilarious. If not, WTF???

I think it was shout out to all those replacement characters. Especially when you consider how prevalent they were in 70s television.

Yes I'm talking to you Cousin Oliver.

Dynasty had three horrible recasts: Emma Samms for Pamela Sue Martin (Fallon), Jack Coleman for Al Corley (Steven), and Karen Cellini for Catherine Oxenberg (Amanda).

Some of the...
Best: Billy Warlock for Sean Kanaan (A.J.), Tamara Braun for Sarah Brown (Carly) on "General Hospital"

Tony Reali for Max Kellerman on "Around The Horn"

and my all-time favorite Jon Stewart for Craig Kilborn on "The Daily Show"

I remember the show, and I vaguely remember about the replacement. I wonder if Bette Davis was ill at the time, and if that had anything to do with her being replaced by Anne Baxter.

The most interesting part of it for me was the fact that years earlier, Bette and Anne had starred together in the acclaimed film All About Eve. It comes on the classic movie channels from time to time, amd it is definitely worth seeing. It has great dialogue, and one of the greatest tell-off scenes I've ever seen in a film.

Anne and Bette played antagonists in the film, and I heard there was some conflict that came out of the fact that Anne pushed to be nominated in the Best Actress category for an Academy Award, and went head to head against Bette. Although they both gave great performances, I don't think either of them won. I don't know how much of this is true, these are just rumors I've heard over the years. But when Anne replaced Bette in Hotel, I remember thinking about their alleged movie rivalry.

Of course, it could all be false. For all I know, Bette may have even suggested Anne as her replacement. If anyone knows any more about this, I'd love to hear it.

This is getting OT but I believe your information is correct regarding the Academy Award issue. With both ladies nominated for Best Actress in All About Eve, they appeared to have cancelled one another out and the Oscar went that year to July Holliday. Although the Eve Harrington was supposed to be an ingenue, Ms Baxter was only 15 years younger than Ms Davis then in her early forties.
Ms. Baxter died in late 1985 while still in the cast of Hotel.

He'll always be Stat Boy to me. Real cutie, though.

Over in the wrestling world, WWE chairman Vince McMahon decided to get rid of play-by-play announcer Jim Ross. Jim Ross has called wrestling matches for the past decade and manages to place so much emotion and importance into the shows and matches, even when the writing is atrocious. Nevertheless, Vince decided to can J.R. because he was not young and attractive. Since, y'know, the target audience of pro wrestling is people who care very deeply about what the MALE ANNOUNCERS LOOK LIKE. The plan was to replace Ross with Mike Goldberg of UFC, but Goldberg declined the offer ... after they fired Ross.

For a few weeks they replaced Ross with the "young, hip" (and woefully annoying) Jonathon Coachman, but the fans turned against it (ratings went down a full point in one month), so now they've replaced him with Joey Styles of ECW fame. The whole thing still sucks.